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Startup Playbook

playbook.samaltman.com

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Re: Startup Playbook

#211

Post by icelancer »

beachstartup wrote: post #207
rcarrigan87 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind sharing your company? I love these kind of stories.

i run one like that too (a little further along) but i'll never mention the name here. there's no point, and it's risky. the other guy probably thinks the same. our businesses survive on sales and operations, not internet name-dropping. i know you're curious so instead of teasing i'll just say: all of these kinds businesses are basically the same: think of something people or businesses pay money for, then do that. g…

Yeah. There's no upside for me to share the name of the business. I would love to, but it's not in my best interest.

Re: Startup Playbook

#212

Post by trymas »

davepeck wrote: post #44
m_fayer wrote: post #36

I wish there was a similar level and quality of resources for what I think are called lifestyle businesses. By that, I mean product-based businesses with at most a few million in revenue, a 5ish person team, a solid sustainable market position, and no desire to revolutionize any unicorns. I know a lot of people attempting this and they mostly seem to be flying under the radar, or at least have nowhere near the cachet…

The Basecamp (née 37Signals) folks have been beating this drum for quite some time. DHH posted "Reconsider" to their blog today, actually; it's an entertaining read, if nothing else: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3972-reconsider Here in Seattle, there's a great community of small software businesses with meaningful profits and impact. We have ties to the broader Seattle startup and technology community, without bein…

Ah yes. Refreshing read. Thank you.

I am long time thinking and saying, that modern startups have rather poisonous culture around them. It's very refreshing to read who thinks (and writes) about it.

Re: Startup Playbook

#213

Post by trymas »

trdm wrote: post #132
davepeck wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Basecamp (née 37Signals) folks have been beating this drum for quite some time. DHH posted "Reconsider" to their blog today, actually; it's an entertaining read, if nothing else: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3972-reconsider Here in Seattle, there's a great community of small software businesses with meaningful profits and impact. We have ties to the broader Seattle startup and technology community, without bein…

That "Reconsider" post was at the top of HN yesterday(1) but it was quickly removed from the front page(2). What a coincidence. DHH's "Reconsider": "Our definition of winning didn’t even include establishing that hallowed sanctity of the natural monopoly!" Sam's "Playbook": "We also ask how the company will one day be a monopoly." (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10506422 (2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item…

Oh wow, today I learned.

This is outrageous, I was so naive of HN community, that things like this are not happening here.

Re: Startup Playbook

#214

Post by jmh42 »

rconti wrote: post #166
davepeck wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Basecamp (née 37Signals) folks have been beating this drum for quite some time. DHH posted "Reconsider" to their blog today, actually; it's an entertaining read, if nothing else: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3972-reconsider Here in Seattle, there's a great community of small software businesses with meaningful profits and impact. We have ties to the broader Seattle startup and technology community, without bein…

Thanks for reposting this, I didn't see it the first time around. Many of the pro-startup stuff I see, in particular this Altman piece, make me subtly uncomfortable, and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it's because, while I live in the Valley, I'm a Seattle native. Maybe it's because Sam's younger than I am. Maybe it's because I like the suburbs better than San Francisco proper. Maybe it's because I'm no…

Because then the growth of valuation metrics will be slow and you will not be able to justify round A,B,C,+,-, etc.

Try reading it through the eyes of an investor putting capital to work rather than the person doing the work.

Re: Startup Playbook

#215

Post by vonklaus »

goodJobWalrus wrote: post #174
vonklaus wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like Aileen Lee was one of the first people to popularize unicorns. in his article around 2013[0] he defines them as > We found 39 companies belong to what we call the “Unicorn Club” (by our definition, U.S.-based software companies started since 2003 and valued at over $1 billion by public or private market investors). That’s about .07 percent of venture-backed consumer and enterprise software startups. Tha…

>in his article around 2013[0] he defines them Aileen is a woman.

good catch. uncommon name, "cowboy ventures", prominent VC, bad assumption on my part. can't edit post, but noted.

Re: Startup Playbook

#216

Post by trymas »

ekanes wrote: post #142
trdm wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That "Reconsider" post was at the top of HN yesterday(1) but it was quickly removed from the front page(2). What a coincidence. DHH's "Reconsider": "Our definition of winning didn’t even include establishing that hallowed sanctity of the natural monopoly!" Sam's "Playbook": "We also ask how the company will one day be a monopoly." (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10506422 (2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item…

There's plenty of room for both models. Lifestyle businesses are awesome. 100% great. But we wouldn't have society-level upgrades like Uber, Twitter or Apple without venture capital. They just don't work any other way.

AFAIK, Apple had a single major investment for it's incorporation. And it was a healthy investment, as Apple was making real money really fast.

Twitter is flowing in the sea of red and as far as I know never had a dime of profit. Who gives money to twitter by this point? Twitter has a lot of users, but it does not monetise the platform well. Also IMHO, Twitter has waaaay too many employees and I imagine that it's internal processes are very inefficient.

Uber is great example of unicorn startup. Though we'll see how it will turn out.

Re: Startup Playbook

#217

Post by argonaut »

neilk wrote: post #197
ekanes wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's plenty of room for both models. Lifestyle businesses are awesome. 100% great. But we wouldn't have society-level upgrades like Uber, Twitter or Apple without venture capital. They just don't work any other way.

You're suffering from startup myopia. Things like GPS are society-level upgrades. Uber is just one application of GPS.

Things like GPS are the result of hundreds of billions of dollars of government spending, much of it going to the military-industrial complex. So yeah.

Re: Startup Playbook

#218

Post by argonaut »

6stringmerc wrote: post #66

Okay, I've been researching and reaching out to various entities for, well, going on a couple years now regarding my "start-up" concept of a company that creates some inventions, brings to market, and licenses technology as another revenue stream. Yes, it's not a software-oriented business, but it's a viable entity with multiple prospects. Thus, the following line doesn't really ring true to me: > One important count…

This might sound harsh, but nothing you've said has indicated to me that you idea is actually one of those new and hard startups. Developing foo technology with a business model of licensing it is pretty derivative. The hard problems are in bringing technology products to market.

Re: Startup Playbook

#220

Post by mattlutze »

davepeck wrote: post #44
m_fayer wrote: post #36

I wish there was a similar level and quality of resources for what I think are called lifestyle businesses. By that, I mean product-based businesses with at most a few million in revenue, a 5ish person team, a solid sustainable market position, and no desire to revolutionize any unicorns. I know a lot of people attempting this and they mostly seem to be flying under the radar, or at least have nowhere near the cachet…

The Basecamp (née 37Signals) folks have been beating this drum for quite some time. DHH posted "Reconsider" to their blog today, actually; it's an entertaining read, if nothing else: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3972-reconsider Here in Seattle, there's a great community of small software businesses with meaningful profits and impact. We have ties to the broader Seattle startup and technology community, without bein…

> I wanted a life beyond work. Hobbies, family, and intellectual stimulation and pursuits beyond Hacker News, what the next-next-next JavaScript framework looks like, and how we can optimize our signup funnel.

> and pursuits beyond Hacker News

What foreign language is this?

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